Karzai supporters leading in Afghan elections
Foreign Desk Report

KABUL (Afghanistan)—The results of Afghanistan’s landmark legislative elections were finalized Saturday after eight weeks of counting slowed by allegations of fraud, and observers said supporters of President Hamid Karzai appeared to be in the majority.
In the latest violence, meanwhile, militants pulled a deputy provincial governor from his car and fatally shot him before killing a former district chief while he prayed in a mosque. Three policemen also were killed as the country’s death toll from fighting neared 1,500 for the year, the deadliest since the Taliban’s ouster in 2001. This year’s death toll includes 86 U.S. troops.
Nearly all winning candidates in the September elections ran as independents, making it difficult to determine where power will lie in the 249-seat legislature. But Western diplomats and other political analysts said it appeared that supporters of the U.S.-backed Karzai hold the majority. “The government has the support of more than 50 percent in the parliament,” said Ali Amiri, a respected political  analyst and local author on Afghan affairs. “There are some small opposition groups, but nothing big enough to challenge Karzai.”
A Western diplomat in Kabul, speaking on condition of anonymity because she is not authorized to speak to the media, also confirmed that Karzai’s supporters hold a slim majority. The polls were hailed as the final formal step toward having a representative government in Afghanistan after a quarter century of war that left more than 1 million people dead.
But repeated delays in announcing the results, as well as suspected ballot box stuffing and the dismissal of 50 election workers for alleged fraud, have undermined the legitimacy of the elections — which cost $159 million and were funded mainly by the United States and other Western countries. A number of Karzai’s supporters also have violent pasts, including Abdul Rasul Sayyaf, a powerful militia leader accused of war crimes by New York-based Human Rights Watch, and Abdul Salaam Rocketi, a former Taliban commander who has since reconciled with the government.
Ahmad Fahim Hakim, deputy chairman of the Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission, said more than half of the winners are regional strongmen, raising fears they will block efforts to reform government and bring to justice those responsible for years of bloodshed.
Despite the setbacks, the elections were welcomed by many, especially women, who have never had a strong voice in politics. A quarter of the parliamentary seats are reserved for women, and 68 were named new lawmakers.
In the latest fighting, militants shot dead the deputy governor of southern Nimroz province, Namatullah Yusuf Zai, after pulling him from his car while he was driving to Kabul to attend a peace and reconciliation meeting, Gov. Ghulam Dustaqir said. He blamed Taliban rebels.
Hours later, two insurgents walked into a mosque in neighboring Helmand province and fatally shot a former local district chief while he prayed, Gov. Sher Mohammed Aghunzada said. Police launched a massive manhunt, arresting 12 suspects.
Also in Helmand province, two police were killed in a shooting late Friday, while a third was killed when militants attacked a district police headquarters in Khost province, officials said. Taliban-led rebels have stepped up attacks recently on prominent pro-Karzai officials, religious leaders and others as part of their campaign to destabilize the region and undermine the country’s U.S.-backed government.